2 versions of tenancy agreement by Letting Agent!

[modarch]

We used a Agent to find our tenant, and all went well until we tried to renew the annual agreement with the tenant. They kept asking us to remove 3 clauses as they said they were not in the original agreement - we said they were. This went back & forth until finally we asked for a copy of theirs, and they were right - the clauses were not in their agreement and were in ours. The tenant then decided enough was enough and thet they would leave. We contacted the agent who agreed that it was 'dodgy' and that the person who did it had left. They promised (in an email) to pay the new agents letting fees. It was winter by now so we had 6 months of vacancy and then let it at a reduced rent. The old agents not refuse to pay anything. We think they faked it to ensure getting the tenancy as the government agency paying the rent would never agree to cover the cost of the garden upkeep (what the 3 clauses were about) Can we sue them for loss of rent and the new agency's fees ? - what do you think? We only have emails from the tenants saying they wanted to renew - several times, although with the 3 clauses out of the tenacy. We agreed to remove them in the end, but too late - they decided to go.

[Steve__M]

I am not a lawyer, but I would say that regardless of your understanding of the original contract, the tenants offered to sign a contract without these three clauses, and you refused their offer which caused them to leave.

 

At most you'd have to consider whether the agent acted outside of the permission you gave them, and whether that caused you damage up to the point your tenants left.

 

If they promised to pay the new letting fees to the new agent, and did not do so, then you could sue them for that.